


Cold

by oddeyebin



Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: Existentialism, Gen, Human!Chan - Freeform, Nihilism, cold open, gumiho!jeongin, haha get it, mentions of blood and injury but its super minimal and not explicit at all, mentions of cannibalism but no livers are eaten, open/ambiguous ending maybe??
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-27
Updated: 2020-10-27
Packaged: 2021-03-08 23:02:38
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,580
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27224692
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/oddeyebin/pseuds/oddeyebin
Summary: Cold. and also wet, but mostly cold. That's what Jeongin feels as he lay on the mud-filled grassy ground, shivering. A particularly loud bolt of thunder causes him to slightly shift. He whimpers out in pain as his paw currently stuck in a beartrap moves a bit. He's not really sure if it's the downpour of the rain or the current loss of blood making him feel so cold but it doesn't really matter much he decides.orA fox meets a man.
Relationships: Bang Chan & Yang Jeongin | I.N
Comments: 4
Kudos: 16





	Cold

Cold. and also wet, but mostly cold. That's what Jeongin feels as he lay on the mud-filled grassy ground, shivering. A particularly loud bolt of thunder causes him to slightly shift. He whimpers out in pain as his paw currently stuck in a beartrap moves a bit. He's not really sure if it's the downpour of the rain or the current loss of blood making him feel so cold but it doesn't really matter much he decides. 

Jeongin is a gumiho. So as an immortal man eating fox spirit, he isn't too worried about his wound currently. Cold though, he's really cold. and uncomfortable. He has been roaming these woods for centuries now and had never had a problem before humans started moving closer and closer to the forest he frequented in his fox form. Humans were a nuisance to him. They lived to destroy and just be an overall burden to the earth. At least that’s what other fox spirits had told him. In truth, Jeongin rarely directly spoke to or interacted with humans, aside from the times they fell victim to him, and he intends to keep it that way. 

The deep orange fox shuts his eyes harshly as some particularly heavy drops of water hit his already muddy fur. He shivers and huffs out something like a sigh as his eyes open up again. He can barely see anything due to the harsh downpour which only makes him feel even lazier to try to move. The dull throbbing ache in his paw is currently a better option than the considerably larger amount of pain he's going to feel when he gets up to take the trap off, and honestly, the fox can't be bothered to do that right now. Why bother, he thinks. Immortality may seem like a blessing to humans and other mortal beings but to Jeongin it had only earned him loneliness, emptiness, and a huge case of nihilism. So did it really matter if he removed the bear trap right now or tomorrow for that matter? He had thousands and thousands of days to do it, and those days would also be empty and meaningless.. and cold. He closes his eyes again.

Just as the fox is considering taking a nap to momentarily escape from his current situation he hears twigs snap and the sloshy sounds of footsteps walking through the grass nearing him. Jeongin's eyes snap open and his head turns immediately to the sound, causing him once again to move. He can't help the small sound of displeasure that leaves his mouth at the reigniting pain. The footsteps become louder and Jeongin can feel a growl start to surge within himself. Really? A hunter? This late at night? What an absolute bother! He isn't even hungry! Oh what a waste of liver this nuisance of a human was about to be to him. The fox is now full on growling as the figure comes completely into his sight and starts to kneel towards him, but before Jeongin reacts the figure speaks.

"Hey, I'm not gonna hurt you." The man's voice is soft and lacks any harm or malice. It throws the gumiho off. So much that he stops growling and just stares at the man. "Did you get caught in a bear trap? I'll help you, just trust me." 

Why was this guy talking to a fox in the middle of the woods during a full on storm? Yeah, Jeongin could understand him but he didn't know that. This strange man was unlike any human he had interacted with before. He bewildered Jeongin to the point that he had not taken notice of the man removing the trap from his paw. The fox focuses back onto what's currently happening and looks up to the figure.

"How about we get you back to the cabin so we can fix up your paw. How's that sound little buddy?" 

He's still talking to him? The fox is slightly offended at being called little buddy. He's thousands of years older than him. That's far from little. But he doesn't protest as the man picks him up and carries him back. He still doesn't know how he feels about this man's strange behaviour, but he knows the cabin won't be wet, and that's enough for him to allow it. At least that is what he convinces himself is the reason and not that this human is definitely piqueing his interest. He'll eat his liver later, he thinks to himself. Yeah.. Later.

Soon Jeongin finds himself inside a small cabin. The man gently sets him down on a couch, careful to make sure his injured paw doesn't have too much weight on it. 

"I'm gonna go get some things to help your wound. Don't go anywhere." The man ends with a chuckle as he walks somewhere out of sight. Why is this man so damn chipper this late at night, the gumiho thinks to himself. He can feel his paw start to heal itself as he takes a bored glance around the cabin he now finds himself in. The interior is uninteresting to him but the warmth radiating from the fireplace, and small crackling sounds coming from the embers are calming. He unconsciously settles and snuggles in deeper to the couch as the man returns with different random supplies in hand.

The man slowly approaches Jeongin as to not startle him, feeling weirdly scrutinized by the piercing brown eyes of the fox currently fixed on him. He holds a soft rag and begins to gingerly clean up the wound careful to not press or scrub too hard. Jeongin is now finally looking clearly at the man in front of him. He looks young, maybe in his twenties, fit, but what interested the fox the most about his appearance were his rather large dark under eyes. Despite his kind chipper demeanor his eyes revealed fatigue and lack of sleep. 

Have the short decades you've lived on this earth tired you the way centuries have tired me? 

“Oh, wow your wounds aren't as deep as I thought they'd be. Guess you won't really need stitches or anything, which is good.” The man looks up and smiles, dimples showing, with his tired eyes. His eyes, fatigued as they seem, hold a small glimpse of surprise and genuine contentment. 

Ah, No. Not like me. 

Jeongin can only describe this man as warm. He's genuinely surprised at how in such a small amount of time he finds himself genuinely interested in this man and how kind he has been to the fox. Jeongin realizes that for the first time in thousands of years, he finds himself curious about something in his life. In Jeongin's entire immortal life he had viewed humans in such a negative light and had never done any research to prove otherwise, but now, he finds himself wanting to learn more, maybe even find more humans like this man. 

Maybe the humans know something about life that I don't. 

After the fox's wound is completely cleaned, the man checks it once more and nods to himself as he puts the water and rags off to the side. He reaches out and starts to pet Jeongin. The fox stiffens, unfamiliar to the feeling of someone’s hand on his fur, but as the man continues he relaxes once more, finding the feeling kind of.. nice. The cozy feeling of being pet and the warmth of the fire begins to overtake the fox as he feels his eyelids become heavy.

“Oh? Heading to sleep? Goodnight little buddy.” The fox blinks lazily somewhat trying to stay awake. The last thought that comes to the fox's mind, is how he is still not little at all, before he finally nods off to sleep. 

Jeongin blinks his eyes open to see the sun is beginning to rise. He believes that he's alone until he hears rustling and sees that the man is sitting across the room still awake, scribbling things on a notebook. A hunch tells the fox that he never actually went to bed. 

It would be very easy to make a small snack of him right now, the fox thinks, but he decides against it. The man helped him. He's kind. Let him live and enjoy the decades of life he has left. Jeongin hopes he can find a reason to smile the same way that man smiled at him last night.

What's it like to care about life? To be excited for the new day? To find meaning in existing?

Jeongin thinks that man knows. He would like to know. Paw completely healed, Jeongin hops off the couch and walks toward the man. 

"Oh, you napped for a long time. All better?" The man looks down to the fox's paw and nods. He gets up and opens the front door to let him out. "Thank you for the company little buddy. Stay safe." He says with a cheesy smile, dimples present once again, as he stands by the door. His smile falters and he gulps, feeling the same odd scrutinization from last night, as the fox slowly makes his way to the door, fierce brown eyes fixed on him once again.

Jeongin walks out of the cabin, leaving the man. The fox walks pensively through the damp grass. 

What now? 

The morning air is no longer as freezing as the night before. No cold harsh rain. Just a small chill in the wind.

**Author's Note:**

> This has been rotting in my notes so I finally decided to post it. There was a longer story I had in mind for this but yeah for now here you go! Thanks for reading!!


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